Attending an informal working dinner at the Bernardin Hotel, organised by Slovenian President Borut Pahor, were Grabar-Kitarovic, the Chairman of Bosnia and Herzegovina's collective Presidency, Mladen Ivanic, Montenegrin President Filip Vujanovic, Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga and Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov.
The meeting focused on strengthening trust and stability in the region, particularly in light of recent events that have destabilised Macedonia. No statements for the press were planned after the event.
According to sources close to the Croatian president, during her stay in Portoroz, Grabar-Kitarovic will have a number of bilateral meetings, including with Macedonian President Ivanov on Monday.
The conference in Portoroz, to be attended by more than 100 business people from the region, including representatives of the biggest Croatian companies, is held as part of the Brdo-Brijuni Process, whose political segment focuses on enhancing trust and stability.
On Monday, Grabar-Kitarovic will attend the panel "A New Deal for a New Age", which is to bring together regional political leaders. An introductory speech is to be given by the Secretary-General of the Nordic Council of Ministers, Dagfinn Hoybraten, the Slovenian president's office stated.
The presidents are expected to pay special attention to preparations for a political summit to be held as part of the Brdo-Brijuni Process in Montenegro on June 8.
The Portoroz conference is expected to focus on energy, tourism, transport, infrastructure and finance.
Emil Tedeschi, CEO of Croatia's Atlantic Grupa company and one of leading regional investors who a few years ago took over the Slovenian company Droga Kolinska, said ahead of the Portoroz conference that such important meetings of business people in the region proved that business people were a step ahead of politicians. He expressed expectations that the conference in Portoroz would significantly encourage further strengthening of business cooperation.
Slovenian President Pahor said ahead of the conference that he was not worried about the nonattendance of Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic and Albanian President Bujar Nishani, who had been expected to arrive.
Pahor said that he would have a meeting with the Serbian president on Wednesday and that Nikolic had confirmed that he would attend the summit in Montenegro on June 8.
The Portoroz conference is to be attended by some 30 Serbian business people and the Serbian economy minister, who is Nikolic's envoy at the event.